The £900,000 contract, awarded by Network Rail on behalf of the Masterplan partners, will involve design work to assess and select the most appropriate options for the various elements of the Masterplan, to allow them to be developed further.

The Waverley Masterplan, a partnership between Transport Scotland, the City of Edinburgh Council and Network Rail, will consider the future growth anticipated at the station, the impact of city centre developments, urban planning trends and how Waverley station can be enhanced to encourage and contribute to the future development of Scotland’s capital city and support the wider economy.

Mott MacDonald will take forward and develop the concept designs, which were revealed back in August, for transforming the capital’s main station.

Alex Hynes, managing director of Scotland’s Railway, said: “Our city stations, and the economies they support, will be key to how the country recovers from the impact of COVID-19 and nowhere more so than in our Capital.

“As restrictions ease and people begin to move around the country again, designing a station that works for the city, both now and in the future, is an important step to creating a modern, vibrant transport hub that will attract people to the railway and provide a distinctive and fitting gateway for people arriving into Edinburgh.”    

Karen Keast, Mott MacDonald in Edinburgh, said: “We are delighted to have been selected to develop the design concepts for the Waverley Masterplan. 

“Edinburgh Waverley is an iconic part of the City’s heritage sitting as it does in a world class urban and architectural environment. Celebrating and valuing this heritage will be central to our thinking but looking to the future and recognising the opportunities it holds will help define the station for the future.”